First Pet Sematary Reviews Are Up, See What Critics Are Saying

First Pet Sematary Reviews Are Up, See What Critics Are Saying

We are in a brilliant time for horror, as the genre is winning new converts thanks to what seems to be an alternating pattern of inventive new original films and fantastic remakes and sequels in hallowed franchises. After Jordan Peele’s Us blew the doors off the box office last month, April has brought the remake/new adaptation of horror master Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

Considered to be one of Stephen King’s most terrifying novels, Pet Sematary was last adapted for the big screen in 1989, in a film that is well-liked by some fans, but one that probably needed a remake. So how does the new Pet Sematary fare? Pretty well it seems. The reviews are up for the film and CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising it as an adaptation of King’s work. In his review, Sean said:

Pet Sematary, as a story, isn’t for everyone. It’s dark and sad, heartbreaking and complicated. But for fans eager to venture to the hallowed ground of King’s novel, this adaptation is a worthy and unsettling tour guide through the mind caverns of King.

That is encouraging to hear for Stephen King fans who have seen the author’s work run the gamut from unwatchable to masterpiece. That said, the story of Pet Sematary isn’t going to appeal to everyone, and it’s not meant to. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff echoes some of Sean’s points while highlighting how scary Pet Sematary is. She says in her "A-" review of the film:

Pet Sematary isn’t striving to be an easy communal crowdpleaser. Just like the source material, it’s a movie with a real thoughtful mean streak that’ll chill you to the bone, and ensure you remain sufficiently on edge well after it concludes.

It sounds like Pet Sematary is truly scary and will leave you feeling rattled long after the credits roll. Right before the credits, though, is where there seems to be some debate, with some reviewers feeling that this new film, while ultimately being a success, doesn’t quite stick the landing. IndieWire’s Britt Hayes gave Pet Sematary a “B-“ and said:

Succeeds in some areas where the 1989 version failed while ultimately failing to deliver an ending that resonates as deeply as its source material.

Others, like The Wrap’s Monica Castillo seemed to appreciate the new ending to the film how it leaves audiences with a lot to ponder in their post-Pet Sematary trauma. She said:

Its terrifying story about death still leaves audiences with much to think about long after the credits roll, and the twists that lead to a new ending are fun to follow.

Not everyone felt that this new Pet Sematary actually felt new though. In one of the film’s negative reviews, Nikki Baughan of ScreenDaily found the positive elements to be far outweighed by how trite the whole thing felt. She said:

Yet these are buried deep under a mudslide of horror cliches — jump scares, creepy kids, expositional newspaper headlines — that reduce this to just another run-of-the-mill horror remake.

Opinions like that seem to be the minority though, and some, like Slashfilm’s Chris Evangelista, fall on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. He found that this new Pet Sematary made changes that were for the better and allowed the filmmakers to tell a new version of the story that maintains the frightening and emotional impact of the source material. He gave the film extremely high praise in his 9 out of 10 review, and said:

Directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer take the terror that King forged, and mold it into something fresh, and exciting, and downright horrifying. Pet Sematary is one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever.

As of now, with an 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems that Pet Sematary is another winning chapter in the ongoing horror renaissance. The film won't be for everyone and Stephen King die-hards and fans of the original film can probably go either way on the changes. Pet Sematary also isn't a particularly happy film, so if you're doing a double feature with Shazam! it's probably best to end with that delightful superhero film instead of going home on such a heavy note.

Pet Sematary rises from its grave when it opens in theaters on April 5. Check out our 2019 release schedule to see all the horror films and everything else you can look forward to this year.

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John Wick 3's Big Spoiler Scene Caused A Bunch Of Challenges

John Wick 3's Big Spoiler Scene Caused A Bunch Of Challenges

The following contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

The newest installment of the John Wick franchise once again puts the title character through hell. He's set upon by another army of assassins trying to kill him and he must fight them off almost entirely alone, and while Wick has proven resilient, he hasn't made it this far without some scars. However, the biggest injury John Wick has yet sustained comes in John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum, and it's an injury that caused problems not just for the character, but also the production of the movie itself.

Without diving too deep into spoiler territory, John Wick sustains a serious injury to his left hand, one that required the use of CGI in order to recreate the damage any time you saw Keanu Reeves left hand throughout the rest of the movie.

The problem is that Keanu Reeves is left-handed, which meant that a not insignificant amount of money was going to need to be spent on CGI for the new movie because you were going to be seeing that hand a lot. According to director Chad Stahelski...

No one creatively saw a problem with it, but it comes down to a simple matter of financials. Without giving away the spoiler, you saw it; you know what he does. That’s on his lead hand. You have a left-handed actor who’s just deformed his left hand and that left hand is in every shot of the third act of the movie. VFX wise, there’s a cost associated with that. There’s logistical problems and practical filming that are associated with that. The studio does their job of questioning my visions and my methods to see if I really like it

It seems that Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick franchise, had to at least ask the director if this decision was really a necessary one. While it was understood from a story perspective, movies are a commercial venture after all, and so cost is always going to be a concern. According to THR, The director apparently had to make concessions in the budget in other places in order to make sure the money was there to handle the CGI costs.

For whatever it's worth, odds are that the studio probably doesn't mind the additional CGI costs as much right now. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum had the biggest opening in the franchise history this past weekend, and a fourth film has already been green lit. Of course, most of John Wick: Chapter 4 is going to be that much more expensive because the injury in question won't be healing in the next movie, so the next film will need to use CGI for the entire run.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is in theaters now.

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The Key Ways Greta’s Script Changed To Make Isabelle Huppert A Perfect Fit

The Key Ways Greta’s Script Changed To Make Isabelle Huppert A Perfect Fit

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for the film Greta**. If you have not yet seen the film, read on at your own risk!**

Over the course of Neil Jordan’s Greta, Isabelle Huppert’s titular character evolves quite a bit. When we first meet her, through the eyes of Chloe Moretz’s Francis she appears to be a lonely old woman with a lot of love to give and nobody to give it to, but developments in the plot reveal that to only be a fraction of the real story. It makes for a fun performance from a veteran star, and it should surprise few to learn that it was tailor made for Huppert – as I recently learned from the film’s writer director:

When Isabelle [Huppert] read it, and Chloe [Moretz] read it, they liked it, and we began to have a serious prospect of making it as a movie. I got out my pen and I rewrote the part for Isabelle. In the initial script she was an older Hungarian woman. And I said to Miss Huppert that we would develop all sorts of dimensions to this character.

Earlier this month I sat down with Neil Jordan during the domestic press day for Greta in Los Angeles, and one of the earliest subjects discussed during the interview was the film’s evolution. Jordan told me that he had a lot of appreciation for Ray Wright’s script when he first read it, particularly the story about a female stalker and its approach to what he called “familiar” material, but when Isabelle Huppert started to express interest he started to produce new drafts of the movie that had her very much in mind for the antagonist.

One of the key ways that Greta changed is that she became a Hungarian woman who pretends that she is French – playing specifically to Isabelle Huppert’s natural accent – but that was only the start. Based on Neil Jordan’s description, the character was originally going to be considerably older, and appear to be a lot more helpless. Having Huppert interested brought Greta’s age down, but Jordan’s version also gave her a bit more flair and charisma. He explained,

We gave her a French persona that she presents to the world. We gave her sophistication, we gave her a piano. We'd give her all sorts of stories about our life, which turn out not to be true - made her considerably younger, and gave her an elegance.

From the outside Greta appears to be an innocent woman in need of good company, but as we witness as the story unfolds that’s not really the case. Francis first meets her when she discovers Greta’s “lost” bag on the subway, and the two quickly begin a mother-daughter-esque relationship as Francis tries to help her (and it doesn’t hurt that Francis just recently lost her mom and has only just moved to New York City). Before too long, however, she realizes that the bag was planted to try and lure her in, and Greta’s obsessive personality starts to become excessively disturbing.

The key to everything in Greta is the relationship between Francis and Greta, and Neil Jordan stressed how changing the latter in new drafts of the script significantly altered their dynamic. While Ray Wright’s script had Francis primarily motivated by sympathy and a level of benevolence, the alterations that Jordan made had it so that Francis was almost entranced by the woman, and wanted to spend more time with her:

In the first script, Francis' relationship to Greta was one of the pity really. She pitied this apparently helpless woman. But in this iteration of it, Francis was kind of seduced by Greta. She's seduced by her piano playing, by her elegance, by her offer of friendship.

It’s pretty easy to imagine anyone falling into that same trap, but after watching the nightmarish results that play out in Greta, audiences may be a bit more wary.

Greta, which stars Maika Monroe, Colm Feore, and Stephen Rea in addition to Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Moretz, is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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Godzilla: King Of Monsters Clip Shows Him Throwing Down With Ghidora

Godzilla: King Of Monsters Clip Shows Him Throwing Down With Ghidora

We watch Godzilla movies for basically one reason, right? We want to see the giant monster break stuff. Also, punch other giant monsters in the face. Godzilla: King of the Monsters promises to give us lots of monsters fighting monsters action when it hits theaters later this year, and a new video is teasing us with what is sure to be one of the bigger battles of them all, Godzilla vs. Ghidora. Check it out.

While the video, posted by Bastizilla, titled simply "Run," does give a brief glimpse at other creatures, most of what we see here is the three-headed beast that is King Ghidora. We get a shot of Ghidora and Godzilla charging each other, one that unfortunately cuts before the two actually collide. However, later we see what appears to be Godzilla with his claws wrapped around one of the heads of Ghidora and driving it straight into the ground. We also see Godzilla about to blast somebody with his breath weapon. The next shot in that sequence is probably awesome.

Ghidora looks absolutely amazing here. While Hollywood has tried to make Godzilla work in the west before, this is the first time that some of these other massive creatures have appeared in a western production. Ghidora looks like he's going to give Godzilla a run for his money in the ass kicking department. Watching them throw down may be the highlight of the new movie.

One other interesting piece of information we get from the new clip is that the monsters that we have seen previously getting all the spotlight, Godzilla, Ghidora, Mothra, and Rodan, aren't going to be the only creatures in the movie. Ken Watanabe's character appears to say that 17 different creatures have been detected, and he clearly expects more. It doesn't mean they'll all be major kaiju we know from classic Godzilla movies, they may be largely generic creatures like the ones Godzilla fought in the previous film, but maybe there's more going in Godzilla: King of the Monsters than we know.

Either way, since the entire premise of the new movie is that humanity and Godzilla team up to take down all the other monsters threatening the planet, Godzilla may be doing a lot more fighting than even we thought.

Of course, that assumes that by the end of the movie Godzilla has ended every threat. That may not actually be the case. Considering that the one thing we know about this franchise is that Godzilla Vs. Kong is happening, perhaps that won't be the case. At the very least, one would expect a cliffhanger ending or a post-credits scene that teases that the fight isn't quite over yet.

The battle with Ghidora looks great here, and the fact that we're expecting a couple of other major kaiju battles in Godzilla: King of the Monsters is only making things more exciting. We'll get to see all the monster smashing action in May.

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Martin Lawrence Celebrated Bad Boys For Life Wrapping Production With Photo From The Set

Martin Lawrence Celebrated Bad Boys For Life Wrapping Production With Photo From The Set

Development hell is a realm that any film worth its salt is lucky to escape. Projects in this land of the damned were once promising, until the point where they become an empty promise. But every now and then, a movie is powerful enough to escape this demon pit, and make it to the finish line, and Bad Boys For Life is one such film to earn such an honor.

This calls for a celebration, and leave it to Martin Lawrence to commemorate the occasion with a photo on the day Bad Boys For Life wrapped production. Check out that photo for yourself below:

It wasn’t too long ago that Will Smith was commemorating the start of production for Bad Boys For Life, so it’s fitting that Martin Lawrence back his partner’s call with a similar gesture during the long awaited film’s final moments of filming. Considering the history of this film’s production, we can’t blame them for celebrating that Bad Boys For Life actually exists, and is about to have the finishing touches bestowed upon it for a run in theaters next year.

Several years past 2003’s release of Bad Boys II, rumors about a third installment in director Michael Bay’s buddy cop franchise ran rampant up until 2015 when there was an official announcement of not one, but two sequels, set to debut in 2017 and 2019. While there was a fair amount of optimism that this plan would come to fruition, it eventually was derailed, despite promising developments along the way.

If Bad Boys For Life’s original incarnation stuck, we’d have seen a film written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the mind that brought us films like Smokin’ Aces, The Grey, and the upcoming film, Boss Level. But eventually, the setbacks that continued to delay this third film saw Carnahan leave the project, paving the way for a new pair of directors and a new lease on life.

The current lineup for Bad Boys For Life does see Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return to their respective roles of detectives Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett, as seen in this commemorative photo on Lawrence’s Twitter feed. But this time out, young directors Adil El Arbi and Bilal Fallah will be shepherding the destruction and excitement that follow this legendary pair, with a particularly interesting rumored plot involving the break up (and eventual make up) of Lowry and Burnett.

It all brings us to this very real moment, where Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, and everyone else behind Bad Boys For Life have completed their task. Now, all that stands between this hotly anticipated film and its potential audience is the post-production process. Looking at everything this film went through to get here, that’ll probably be the easiest part of the whole process.

Bad Boys For Life will finally have its day in theaters on January 17, 2020; unless it gets a bump into a summer release date more worthy of movies sporting gun fights and car chases.

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Yes, Zachary Levi Prefers DC To Marvel, Thank You Very Much

Yes, Zachary Levi Prefers DC To Marvel, Thank You Very Much

What started off as the MCU dominating the on-screen superhero sphere and DC playing catch up has switched up n recent years. Warner Bros has made a good case for the potential of its own universe with entries such as Wonder Woman, Aquaman and most recently with the success of Shazam!.

Zachary Levi, who played the titular hero, is one of the few actors who has played comic book characters in both the Marvel and DC film worlds. Naturally, fans are curious how working under the two mantles compare. When Levi took questions at a panel at MegaCon in Orlando, here’s what he said:

I mean I had more fun working for DC. I got to be my own superhero for DC. It was super cool. While I wasn’t able to do the first Thor, I was cast in that by Kenneth Branagh, who I think is an incredible talent… and then getting cast as Fandral the Dashing, this Lothario, swashbuckling, Douglas Fairbanks - I was like ‘this is so dope!’

This isn’t a huge surprise. The actor was given an entire hero to call his own in the DC Extended Universe. For Marvel, he revealed that he was cast to play Fandral in the first Thor movie, but was unavailable. As a result, Josh Dallas took on the role for the 2011 film and Levi took over for Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok. Although he seems to have loved his character in the Thor franchise as well, it didn’t live up to its potential. He continued with these words:

We had some fun, but we didn’t really do all that much. I mean anybody who saw the movie, as you know they really didn’t really go that direction with the movie, so I really didn’t have that much to do. So I couldn’t possibly have had as much fun and by going and being my own guy who is a 14-year-old in a superhero adult body. The fun and funny, joy and heart that comes from a premise like that, that’s a fun movie!

Fandral and the Warriors Three may have been a common thread in the Thor trilogy, but they continued to be on the sidelines as the films went on and didn’t get much screen time. Levi previously expressed interest for the Thor sidekicks to get a spinoff of their own, but they were killed off in Ragnarok. After The Dark World struggled to impress Marvel fans, Levi’s Fandral didn’t even get a line in Ragnarok. His last words (or any lines for that matter) were cut from the film.

Zachary Levi even admitted his relief that Fandral didn’t make it out alive for Avengers: Infinity War, because it may not have freed his schedule for Shazam!. He said he likely would have been a sitting duck on set for three months only to be killed off then too.

When you ask Zachary Levi to compare his experiences with the two comic book franchises, his answer isn’t tough to predict or understand. His time with Marvel may have been a bit of a letdown, but it was redeemed in a big way when he took on the role of the adult Billy Batson. His Shazam! role allowed him to really show off his acting chops and play a kid in a superhero’s body. He was far from disappointed by the product since the movie was met with positive responses from critics and fans.

Zachary Levi has also pointed out how proud he is of Shazam’s attention to diversity, as it portrayed a foster home full of different identities, including Billy Batson’s bestie, Freddy, who has a disability. Due to the film’s predominantly young cast, a sequel is already being fast tracked for Shazam! at Warner Bros.

There really is no comparison for the actor given his experiences. That said, he has spoken out to fans in the past to stop pitting the two franchises against one another when Captain Marvel and Shazam! were being placed side by side at the box office and since the two heroes once shared the same title.

Why pick a side anyway? Both the comic book universes are offering something different for fans and can be appreciated in their own lights as they both continue to stack its slates with exciting releases.

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When Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 May Finally Begin Filming

When Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 May Finally Begin Filming

Although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was one of the first movies to be announced for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 (or whatever the next upcoming slate of movies is being called), the firing and eventual re-hiring of writer and director James Gunn complicated its release schedule. We won’t be seeing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as soon as was previously believed, but word’s come in that it could begin filming as soon as next year.

Back in March, it had been rumored that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wouldn’t start rolling cameras until early 2021, but THR is saying that production is actually set to begin sometime in 2020. It’s possible that the launch date is for late in 2020, thus being only a few months separated from the previously rumored date, but for Guardians of the Galaxy fans, the prospect of the team’s threequel coming sooner than previously expected is undoubtedly welcome.

When Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was first unveiled, it was generally believed that it would be ready to go by summer 2020. Marvel never officially confirmed this, but after Disney fired James Gunn last July, any release date plans that might have been penciled in were erased, and the project was put on indefinite hiatus.

In between when James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and then re-hired in March, he boarded the DC Extended Universe to write and direct The Suicide Squad, and that’s still in play. Production on that sequel/relaunch is set to begin in September, and because it’s not coming out until August 2021, it’s possible Gunn could find himself in a situation where he’s directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and still working on The Suicide Squad on the side.

Sean Gunn Knew In Advance About James Gunn’s Reinstatement As Guardians 3 Director

In any case, assuming that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does end up beginning production in 2020, there’s a slim chance it could be ready to go by November 5, 2021, which is one of the dates that Marvel has blocked off. However, given all the VFX work that goes into making these movies, I suspect that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t arrive until 2022, presumably taking the May 6 date, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also opened in May.

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

While no official plot details have been revealed for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have been revealed yet, the currently-playing Avengers: Endgame did hint at what might be coming up by showing Thor accompanying the Guardians back into space and Star-Lord looking for the past version of Gamora, who is now running around the present day MCU. Let’s also not forget that one of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s mid-credit scenes set the stage for Adam Warlock to eventually be brought into this universe.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on what’s happening with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and you can learn what else is in development for the MCU by looking through our handy guide.

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